Homework help
by Nazdravana
Summary: Uraraka meets All Might in his weakened form.


Toshinori Yagi was tired. He was tired of being a hero in a body that could no longer support it. He was tired of teaching children who only wanted to use their quirks to show off. And he was tired because it had been another long day of hero work and he couldn't maintain his more muscular form any longer.

He was sitting in the staff room, his hand resting lightly on the pile of papers that he needed to grade, but he had no motivation to start. Instead, he stared blankly out of the window, wondering what it would take before he handed in his resignation and retired from being a hero.

Realistically, he knew he couldn't. Tomorrow would be another day; he'd have more energy, and he would have more time. There would be villains to stop and keen, eager children to teach. There was always more to do and the world wasn't ready to continue without him any time soon.

He leaned back on the chair wearily. He was so tired and it was peaceful here. Resting his eyes for just a few minutes couldn't hurt.

He was startled awake by a knock at the door.

Uraraka had been looking for Mr Aizawa. It was only a couple of weeks into the first term and she was already falling behind. She hadn't understood any of the day's lesson. None of the course books had been in the library and she didn't want to keep asking Deku for help, so Mr Aizawa seemed like the next best option, especially as he would be the one marking the homework. She was hoping that he would be able to give her some help.

She made her way towards the door and took a deep breath before knocking hesitantly. There was a long pause, during which she felt like running away, before a hoarse "Come in" greeted her. She pushed the door open.

Yagi blinked as the door opened. It took him a second to realise that his clothes were hanging far too loosely on his frame and that he wasn't going to be recognisable as All Might but he didn't let himself react. He couldn't let anyone associate his weakened body with the hero persona that he wore.

He wasn't sure who he was expecting to be on the other side, but it wasn't young Uraraka.

She had opened the door to reveal a tall blond and skinny man, slumped in his chair and looking incredibly weary. Her first instinct was surprise; she thought she knew all the teachers at the school. Her second was fear; was this man a villain? But he showed no reaction, and certainly didn't try to attack her. He looked up as she entered and something unreadable crossed his face.

She swallowed. She may not have known the man but he probably had every right to be there. She smiled nervously at him. "Excuse me, I was looking for Mr Aizawa. Is he available?"

Yagi felt relief wash over him; she clearly hadn't recognised him. He shook his head.

"He went out a couple of hours ago. A hero's duty never ends." He saw the understanding in her eyes at that. "Can I help with anything?" He was careful to not use her name.

She hesitated at that. What did she tell this man? She didn't want him thinking that she wasn't up to the school's standards. And yet she needed to complete the work. Mr Aizawa had already threatened to expel her if she couldn't maintain her grades.

"I had some questions about the homework," she said at last. "I was hoping that Mr Aizawa could explain them."

Yagi considered that. The girl looked worried about something, and he could probably guess what it was if Aizawa's reputation was to be believed. He could probably help with first year homework and it wasn't like he had anything else that he wanted to be doing. The pile of papers lay ignored on the desk; he wasn't going to be marking them tonight anyway. He rubbed his eyes.

"Maybe I can help instead?" he suggested. "What subject is this?"

"History," she told him, wincing. "We need to write about how quirk laws were introduced and how that led to the formation of villain and vigilante groups."

Yagi smiled to himself. That was certainly something that he was familiar with. He had grown up with those stories and had made it his life's mission to resolve the fallout from those dark decades.

"Take a seat," he suggested, gesturing to the many empty ones in the room. "Let's start at the beginning." He watched as she did so. She was clearly wary of him, and he couldn't fault that. She didn't recognise him when he looked like this and he supposed that her reaction was good; she shouldn't be too trusting of strangers. Still, this wasn't the energetic and cheerful young Uraraka that he knew.

"You're familiar with how quirks started, I assume? How the first was a baby who shone brightly, and how quirks started appearing throughout the population shortly afterwards?" She nodded. Everyone knew those stories, how could they not? "Not all quirks are equal. You've seen it yourself. Some are powerful, others are much less so. And there are still people out there who are quirkless."

"Yes. And some people started using their quirks to hurt others." She looked angry.

"There have always been people like that," he reminded her. "Even before quirks, there was gun crime and knife crime; people using weapons to gain power over their fellow citizens. They might have been equal physically, but a weapon in the wrong hands can cause a lot of damage."

She nodded. She could understand that.

"The government started to pass laws restricting quirk usage. Much like the gun and knife laws, they restricted usage to only certain individuals."

"Heroes."

"Not quite. Anyone with a quirk that could be classified as dangerous could apply for a licence to use their quirk. It made everything much safer. Or at least that was the idea."

She frowned. "What happened?"

He sighed. He had watched most of this unfold before his eyes as a child. "People didn't like being restricted. One day they were using their quirks, and the next they were told that they weren't allowed to."

"But they were dangerous."

"Your human body can be dangerous too, if you give it the chance," he told her. "How would you feel about being told that you had to walk around with an arm tied behind your back for the rest of your life because you might be dangerous?"

Oh. She understood.

"It would be like losing an eye." A whole sense that she would lose forever.

While her quirk wasn't technically classified as dangerous, she had been warned against using it in public. Just in case, her parents had said. But she couldn't imagine never being able to use it again.

He nodded at that. "Exactly. And that's where the villains come in. They didn't like being told to not use their quirks. But they did anyway. And so they needed to grant exemptions to those with powerful quirks who could stop them."

"The heroes." She was following it now.

Yagi nodded. "Heroes. People weren't just people anymore. Some of them were superheroes from stories and had the abilities to use their quirks for the good of others. And they did. And people fell in love with the idea of real life superheroes. It became a glamorous profession. And the heroes upheld the law and apprehended anyone using a dangerous quirk."

"And the villains didn't like that." She watched amusedly as he chuckled. His sunken eyes gleamed brightly and his mouth twitched into a crooked grin.

"Indeed. That's when they started banding together into groups. The League of Villains is one of the oldest ones around. It has changed its structure and membership a few times, but the core ideals have been the same for decades." He shook his head again. "And that brings us to today."

Uraraka leaned back against her chair thoughtfully.

"Where do the vigilantes come in?"

He gave another crooked grin. "A vigilante is one who upholds the law while not having any authority to do so. They are the ones who try to stop villains but while also using their powers illegally."

"Are there many of them?" Uraraka wondered.

He looked over at her. "Let me ask you a question. If you were to see someone being attacked on your way home tonight, maybe it's a shop being robbed, maybe it's an old lady being mugged, what would you do?"

"I'd stop them, of course."

The light was back in her eyes and he smiled inwardly at her enthusiasm. "How?"

"I could use my quirk to..." she broke off. "Oh."

He nodded. "And you would be a vigilante. Some vigilantes are like you would be: unintentional and well-meaning. Others go out of their way to stop villains. They're not necessarily bad people," he added gently, seeing the look on her face, "But they are breaking the law."

"Because they're not licensed heroes."

He leaned back on the chair, feeling utterly spent and closing his eyes. "Exactly."

She looked at him. Up close, he wasn't just thin. He was emaciated and he looked tired and ill. She would leave him to get some rest.

"I think I understand now," she told him. "I think I can write the essay. Thank you."

Yagi opened his eyes and smiled. "Good. I'm glad I could help."

He watched as she made her way to the door; she looked much more cheerful than she had been when she entered.  
She turned around at the threshold. "I'm sorry. I don't know your name."

He grinned at that. He lived for helping people, whether it was saving someone from a burning building or pointing a student in the right direction; he was feeling much better now. She might know him as All Might but there was no reason why she couldn't get to know him as he truly was either.

"It's Yagi."


End file.
